washing

[5cutekiddies]

I mostly use pocket nappies, and have a lot of inserts, microfiibre, hemp, flannel and bamboo. I am finding, and not sure if it is due to the wet weather and lack of sunlight, but the inserts are getting really stinky, mainly the hemp. Should I be adding something to my wash to rid them of the smell? I have being doing a prewash and extra rinse, but they still have an underlying smell, I never had this prob before with terry flats.

I have read that you can use vinegar, just not with PUL nappies. Is it harmful every now and again? If I were to just wash the inserts in it do they smell like vinegar?? Should I add some essential oil to my wash??

I am a little disheartened as I thought these natural fabrics had all these antibacterial qualities, but they seem to smell the most. How can it be antibacterial if it retains the wee smell?? I have so many hemp boosters as they are less bulkier, but am getting scared to use them as I cannot handle 3 stinky bums every morning, the smell is so off!!!

[MGlatte]

I have always found that hemp seems to really smell, particularly if worn overnight. The smell is overpowering.

I'd wash the inserts in vinegar, they won't retain the vinegar smell. Something else I do from time to time is leave the nappies out on the line overnight. A hassle when you don't have many nappies, but personally I've found it did help.

I haven't tried washing nappies in any essential oils so I really can't comment on that.

[monicat]

A few people on here have tried Canestan wash/rinse for their smelly nappies, try a search on here and you can find some info on it maybe?

I have added a few drops of tea tree oil to the wash before but I don't think it made much difference with the smell.

I also find hemp smells a lot more than any other inserts or nappies I have, but having said that even the bamboo ones smell quite a bit in the morning!

[SammiT]

DS's nappies have been pretty off lately (thanks to teething I think), and I have the same problem with having trouble getting them dry. I finally did a strip wash and then decided to try washing without detergent as I saw a few people on here have found that works well. It worked well until the dreaded teething wee's started again. So I now add the dettol rinse (I think that is the same as the canestan) to my wash cycle as DS has eczema, so I would rather not leave any on the fabric IYKWIM. So I do cold rinse, warm wash (with dettol anti-bac rinse), warm rinse. They come out smelling better than ever. When DS is over this bout of teething I will not bother with the dettol each wash and maybe just do it once a week.

It took a long time to find a washing routine that worked for me, I tried so many different detergents, and this seems to work the best. HTH

[MelZ]

I was just about to come and post the same thing!

I have noticed some of my hemp boosters smelling when they are wet (even the new ones that I have only been using for 3 weeks!)

I think Im going to do a hot wash with no detergent, maybe also try washing the inserts and boosters in vinegar...

Im wondering if I might be still using too much detergent, as I do small loads so will keep trying not to use too much.

I think I did a strip wash of all my inserts when I was pg and it seemed to help, though I cant remember if I tested them on dd1 before putting them away...

[5cutekiddies]

One more question, if I wash with a bit of dettol, will this just remove the horrible smell and not prevent it. Is the horrible smell just something you have to put up with when the nappy is weed in??

[AliP]

In my experience, the nappy smells because it hasn't got all of the stale wee smell out of it. I found the solution was to wash night nappies straight away in the morning every morning, do a hot wash and then another rinse at the end and line dry.

If you're not going to wash every day, then I'd rinse the offending nappies as soon as you take them off. Sun drying makes a huge difference too.

[5cutekiddies]

This week has been beautiful sunny day,s so I chucked some dettol in the wash, reduced the washing powder even more, did prewash and extra rinse, sunned those stinky things, and they have been beaut all week!!! I had 3 non-stinky bums this morning!! Amazing. It must be all that drying inside during the wet weather and lack of sun light to get that stench out.
Very impressed!!